How do I choose a tent?!?

[PersisFord]

We have borrowed tents a couple of times for weekends and have decided to bite the bullet and buy our own....but I'm pretty clueless and wonder if anyone can help? From my research we would like:

6 berth (family of 5)
Poled (small car)
I am obsessed with the need for ventilation - last tent I lay awake as the condensed breath of my children dripped around me and I did not enjoy it. Similarly I would like a fairly bug-proof tent (opened the windows to deal with condensation then had flies EVERYWHERE).

It will be for camping for a few days rather than weeks at a time, but I'd like a living area of some sort.

Ideally under £500

Any thoughts would be VERY welcome!!

I covet a Vango Icarus.

Oooh interesting as I had discarded that as an option after seeing reviews which mentioned leaking and condensation!!! Have you tried one? Is it OK?

Think about your layout - how old are your kids and how many years do you want this tent to last? I think with very small kids I like the layout where your bedrooms are at the back and you can unzip the middle to all be together. Older kids I think it’s better to have the sort of layout where you’ve got a central living area and then sleeping pods at the edges as they tend to be a bit bigger. Vango and Outwell are good brands but we’ve got a HiGear Zenobia and it’s fab, I love it. No issues with condensation at all and as long as you keep the mesh zipped in the day not many bugs seem to get in.

I would recommend a tent you can stand up in, it makes everything so much easier. The Decathlon ones are very good, and not particularly expensive.

I would also advise bigger than a 6 berth if you want 5 people in it. It doesn't allow for luggage / belongings and if it's wet then you don't want to be all on top of your stuff getting dry stuff wet.

I'd advise a porch type area if the living area isn't large, for the same reason. Somewhere to take boots off out of the rain, before getting into the bit of the tent where all you lr stuff is. Even heavy dew on a morning loo visit can get stuff surprisingly wet.

I have a smaller version of this, it's very good.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/_/R-p-334019

The ventilation is very good on these Decathlon ones - they have a sort of raised roof, and mesh under.

Anything with lined pods will stop the condensation dripping on your face when you're trying to sleep.

You need a polycotten tent!

The Zenobia is good, but it will bust your budget. Take a look at the Coleman range - it ticks all your boxes and it's a reliable manufacturer. To echo the other posters; get a bigger tent than you think you will need.

www.millets.co.uk/16232033/coleman-mosedale-5-pro-blackout-tent-16232033

This is all VERY INTERESTING (and I am a Tiffany Aching superfan so that's cheered me up even more). The kids are 10-7 so ideally would have them in the same end as me although I guess one of us could sleep each end with a select few.

Can I ask - what do the waterproof ratings MEAN realistically? I mean, if its an absolutely apocalyptic storm then I will expect a bit of leakage but I would like to stay dry in normal summer conditions....do I need 4000 whatever the units are??!

Off to look at HiGear and Decathalon....

Polycotton tents are amazing - I am a bell tent addict - but they are heavy, prone to mold (you MUST put them away dry) and one central space, split by an inner.

Pros: breathable, long lasting (10 years+), it's cool in the day & warm at night & you can get them with fly screens.

You would need a 6m one, depending on how old your children are.

My decathlon tent has survived plenty of thunder storms, although I've never tested it in Scottish disaster weather. A cheap one might be a good idea anyway because the kids might want their own within a few years. If you're only mentally buying one for 3 years, you can scrap it if it's no good because the kids grew out of it rather than because you made a mistake.

Romantic as the bell tent sounds, the thought of trying to get it completely dry gives me the dooms, as last year we borrowed a normal vinyl one or whatever they are called, it poured (plus children's breath issue), we packed it away wet (no choice due to pouring) then had it draped all over the kitchen with a fan and a dehumidifier for days to dry it as the ran continued so couldn't even put it up in the garden or something.

Winnfields are good if you have one near you. Our local one has loads of tents up to browse round so you can get an idea of what you like.

RE it still raining when you get home - just put it back up in the garden until it dries out even if it takes a few days. It's fine being outside still being wet, but being wet in the bag/house can lead to mould.

Go to a few shops to work out what layout what suits your family.

Our current family tent is a Go Outdoors 6XL (air tent which I know you don't want, but there is a pole version). We like the big living area, then it has 3 bedrooms next to each other, plus a covered porch area. The bedrooms can be converted into a big one. Depending where we are camping (whether we are paying per pitch or tent, and whether we are alone or with friends) the kids might be next door in their own tent or in one of the bedrooms. The other bedroom is the dressing room.

Another vote for Decathlon tents. We have a 4person for 4 people as a summer tent ... I find if the tents are too large they are really cold.

For winter a bell tent with a wood burner.

I have an Icarus 500 5 berth which is fab.
Pros: lots of space, blackout sleeping pod, can stand up, two doors with mesh as well as fabric so can ventilate while keeping bugs out, closable mesh ventilation windows on inner sleeping pod, mine has never leaked expect where the kids leaned against the walls during rain making the inner touch the outer.
Cons: no canopy over the doors so rain comes in while entering, you can get an extra canopy or we got a massive tarp (the "Family Shelter") which works the same and gives loads of extra shelter in sun or rain.

It's many years since I have used a tent but I agree with pp
Get one;
you can stand up in
One with a awning ( the bigger the better )
Sleeping pods, = warmer , easier to keep bugs out of , privacy
At least one large window with a bug mesh.
To make it easy to identify the poles use different colours of electrical tape and add it to your how to erect tent manual.
Ie front right blue , front left red , if you run out of colours double up , back right blue and red.
It makes it much easier to tell at a glance which go where.

Go to somewhere that has plenty open in display , decathlon usually has a few , go-outdoors has loads , I was there today they had at least 15 tents up.
If you use go-outdoors become a member , it cost £5 for a year and saves a good % on each purchase.

Take some camping gear with you, it's a bit of a faff but putting a sleeping bag , cool box , camp chair etc in the tent will give you a much better idea of what will fit , they look big when empty.
( I took a few things I normally carry round with me today as I was buying a new rucksack it's amazing how much it helps pick the right size )

Zempire have enormous ventilation panels on every single section plus extra secret ventilation at the back of the sleeping pod. Very clever. It's great. However it's an air tent...

Ok, this is all food for thought and I think I will have to go and look. Great idea to take stuff with me!

Can I ask (remedial question) about buying a separate groundsheet? Is it just to keep the bottom of the tent clean? Last year (of the rain!!) I didn't tuck it under the tent and it just provided a handy pool of water for the tent to sit in all day getting damper.....

Air tents are incredible.. I would never use poles ever again!

Also, decathlon do black out tents, which for me are priceless when camping.

Bell tents look lovely but are too heavy and allow too much light in.. I also prefer having separate rooms rather than one shared space.

Yes definitely get a good quality ground tent .
The 1st time I used one I had the same problem , it jyst created a swimming pool in the middle / low spots of the grd sheet.
My mistake was that the ground sheet was bigger than the footprint of the tent so any rain /dew ran off the tent onto the sheet and into the tent.
Get one that's a few inches smaller all round so rain runs off the tent straight into the ground.

We have the vanguard 8 nightfall. I absolutely love it and it’s HUGE! I think the best way to find your dream tent is to Covet ones on a campsite while you’re camping. That’s how we chose ours and have no regrets

Have you looked at any of the Dutch tents? Ours is a ESVO Bedouin tent and you get none of the condensation issues, can happily stand up and have separate sleeping compartments. But it does need drying out completely which is a bit of a faff.

I'd head down to somewhere you can see lots of them and how big they are when folded down as well.

Absolutely what @CoQ10 said about black out tents from Decathlon and air tents. I have a 4-person black out air tent and it is really easy to put up / take down even by myself (no faffing with poles! no problems with pole elastic that's gone slack!) Because it's a black out one it doesn't get that distinctive tent smell AND you can have a lie in without waking up at 6am worried that you have accidentally pitched your tent on the surface of the Sun.

For a new one the size you need they are more than you have budgeted for as you would need this one but it's possible that you could find one second hand, and if your budget does stretch that far I would absolutely spend the extra. I put off getting one for ages and I wish I'd done it earlier.

We use it for weeks on end over the summer. I've camped in it in pissing rain and high winds on a cliff top (and welcomed in soggy bedraggled friends at 3am as their tents gave up on them) and in August heat where the blackouts made a real difference to comfort, and pretty much everything in between.

I have been so impressed with the tent that I went back to decathlon and got one of their camping stoves, which has sadly turned out to be pure shite, so if anyone has good camp stove recommendations I'd love to hear those! Needs to be able to do a proper meal, not just a pot noodle.

Another vote for Decathlon black out tents. The black out bit is amazing and makes it so much cooler inside 👍🏻👍🏻

@TheodoreMortlock , have a look at this one , I had the Coleman brand but I think they are all pretty much the same. I only put it on ebay last week or you could of had it !

It was great and very reliable
www.amazon.co.uk/Campingaz-Camping-Folding-Portable-Compact/dp/B00UALXY6Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_15_sspa?adgrpid=55940598951&hvadid=259069716929&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1006912&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=975859428955050916&hvtargid=kwd-331115696084&hydadcr=8858_1725426&keywords=coleman+gas+stove&qid=1683580990&sr=8-15-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRmX25leHQ&psc=1